Inside the New York Yankees clubhouse with MLB.com beat writer Bryan Hoch.

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It’s almost game time here at Yankee Stadium and we will soon know how Yankees fans receive Alex Rodriguez when he takes the field in pinstripes for the first time in 2013.

Rodriguez is playing in his fourth big league game, and the first at home, since returning from the disabled list. I don’t need to recap all of the details here in this blog post, as you’re probably well aware of the cloud Rodriguez is under, currently waiting on the appeal of a 211-game suspension levied by Major League Baseball earlier this week.

A-Rod didn’t have a word to offer to reporters today, strolling through the clubhouse with his eyes fixed upon the ceiling after a brief appearance at his locker. He signed some autographs during batting practice behind home plate, then abruptly jogged away into the first-base dugout and back to the clubhouse without saying anything.

Rodriguez said in Chicago that he had not given much thought to how Yankees fans would welcome him back, and Girardi said today that he would not offer a recommendation to the fan base.

“I don’t really have a way they should receive him. That’s not my job,” Girardi said. “My job is these guys in that room, so I’m not so sure how it’s going to go out there.

“The only thing that you hope is that, whether it’s a home or visiting ballpark, that it’s not personal. That’s the only thing that you hope. But the fans are going to react the way they’re going to react. They buy the tickets, and that’s part of it.”

Girardi also said that he spoke with his son, Dante, in loose terms about Rodriguez’s situation. Girardi has often been seen pitching to his son on the field after Yankees home games, and Dante’s swing and on-field mannerisms appear to be closely modeled upon Rodriguez’s.

“I talked about this with my son, how things have went in baseball and some of the things,” Girardi said. “And how in this day and age, with camera phones and everything that goes on, the chances of you ever getting away with anything aren’t very good.

”There are consequences for your actions, and you’re usually going to have to pay for them. I’ve talked to my son about the value of hard work and doing things the right way. As far as my son as a fan, I would tell him not to get wrapped up in what goes on in the stands. Be respectful and go from there.”

Yankees closer Mariano Rivera spoke rather candidly this afternoon about Major League Baseball’s suspension of the Brewers’ Ryan Braun and the potential implications it may have for Alex Rodriguez.

Here is a quick transcript of Rivera’s thoughts:

On the Braun suspension: “If he has admitted that he did something wrong, he knows what the league is going to do. It’s not rocket science here. Hey, if you did something and you admitted it, who am I to say something different, you know what I mean? I just want to make sure that the game is played clean and should be the way it is.”

On if he is worried about A-Rod: “In a sense, I can’t say anything because I don’t know. I don’t know what happened with Alex. He’s my teammate and I have to support him 100 percent. I really don’t know until something different happens. We need to see where this goes. The good thing about this is we’re cleaning the game. That’s the way it should be. I think this is a message for whoever tries to do this again, that it’s going to be caught. It’s going to be caught.”

On if he would feel differently if a teammate admitted using, as Braun did: “I wouldn’t. Everybody does their stuff. I don’t know what the reason [is]. I’m sure they have reasons. You know if you do something like that, you know you’re going to get caught and you’re going to pay the consequences. Simple as that. If you did it and you don’t get caught, well, good luck. But if you get caught, and 99.9 percent of the time you’re going to get caught, you know that you’re going to pay the consequences.”

On if he would stand behind A-Rod if suspended: “Yeah, I mean, I have to support him. He’s my teammate. He’s my brother. Definitely, I don’t say if he did or didn’t do it. If it happens, I can’t throw him in the street, you know? He’s still my brother.”

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